


nothing's free

by Author404 (orphan_account)



Category: The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Western, Angst, Animal Death, Blizzards & Snowstorms, Gen, Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-04
Updated: 2019-08-04
Packaged: 2020-07-30 21:14:09
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,006
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20103709
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/Author404
Summary: This is based on one of the scenes from the 2010 movie True Grit. It's a great movie which I totally recommend! Enjoy the story.





	nothing's free

**Author's Note:**

> This is based on one of the scenes from the 2010 movie True Grit. It's a great movie which I totally recommend! Enjoy the story.

They had been tracking them through the winter. It must've been early spring now. When her dad had disappeared without a trace, she grew suspicious. Judith contacted lawmen, neighbors, and even her older brother who lived well a while away. They had all referred her to Negan, a mysterious bounty hunter. The stories were very impressive. But as her father would put it, the man was a drunken fool. He cracked inappropriate jokes the whole trip. At several points, he had threatened to leave and give up.

They had found her father the day before yesterday. He was tied to a tree and gagged. Her dad seemed relieved to be rescued even if he was worried out of his mind for Judith. The first thing that had come out of his mouth were, "You're not safe here!" But neither was he. Negan and her father seemed to have a bit of a history, nodding at each other and averting eyes awkwardly. On their way back to Kings County, Philip Blake (Rick's kidnapper) must've caught up with them.

They were in a plain now. Few trees and plants were in the area. Her throat was dry. Her father and Blake both had their guns out, locked and loaded at each other. The one eyed man seemed to be finishing up with his speech. Negan held Judith back by the shoulders.

"You knew too much, Deputy." Rick hadn't really explained why Philip had taken him. Something about a gang of cannibals in the area.

"I know enough, Blake! Put the gun down,  _ now  _ or I will have no choice but to shoot." Philip Blake raised his hands in surrender, stepping back.

A quiet, "What the fuck?" came from Negan. Her father slowly put the gun down-

** _Bang_ ** .

His gun slid across the smooth ground. She didn't see the body, only the gun. When Judith was a toddler, apparently she had gotten her tiny hands on it. Before anything more permanent happened Rick had grabbed it and locked it away in a wooden box. He had scolded Carl for not keeping an eye on her. Even later, she had borderline obsessed over the gun's shine, the smooth wood of the handle, the rusty barrel. Another gunshot brought her back to reality.

Negan shot at the one eyed man, missing.  _ Focus.  _ She dove for the revolver, struggling not to give in to her instincts and crawl over to her father like a little girl. It was heavy, heavier than she expected. Negan tackled Blake, taking him down. Judith scrambled back up, rushing forward, both hands holding her father's gun. "Move!" Negan and Blake still wrestled on the sandy desert floor. She screamed again, her voice cracking. "Negan!" Her throat strained from the volume. A sudden gust of wind blew his dark hat off. It flew off into the desert. Judith ran up to the two figures rolling around.

She pointed her revolver at Philip Blake's head. "Get off him!" A tear dropped down onto the hard ground. Philip stopped again. He opened his mouth and Negan took no chances, pushing the man off of him and scrambling up. He pressed a boot to Blake's throat. Judith hurried to point the gun at his head. "Where's your gun?"

No answer. Negan pressed harder. "She asked you a question." At the beginning of their journey, he had barely wanted to look at Judith.

Philip stumbled over his words. "O- over there, by the rocks." Negan took his aged pistol out, pointing it at her father's killer's face. Right on the one remaining eye.

"Now if you shut the fuck up and cooperate we might let you keep all your lim-"

Judith didn't play with her food.

Shooting a revolver was harder than people made it seem. The ring in your ears was deafening. She fell backwards, gun still clutched tightly in one hand. But Judith got back up. Negan put his gun back in his holster. She turned around.

Rick had fallen forward. No blood leaked out from under the body. Negan couldn't believe it. His daughter, Judith, walked forward. What was she doing? The wind had blown Rick's stetson a couple feet behind the body. "Kiddo?" She knelt down, picking up her dad's hat. Judith looked at it for a while. She must've been in shock. Negan approached the girl. It was beginning to get dark out. A thin layer of snow began to fall. Judith's back shook along with the rest of her. Negan heard quiet sobs and rushed over. She had white knuckles still clutching that goddamn hat. He collapsed onto one knee, pulling the young teenager into a hug. She cried and screamed into his shoulder. He managed to keep it together, for Judith's sake.

=

Philip's horse had run off, so had Rick's. Negan tied the corpse to the back of Judith's pony. Then tied the pony to his horse. Judith was riding with him. Her small body fell asleep against him. They'd been going a long while, stars shone in the sky now. The pony was stumbling.  _ No, no, no.  _ Negan leaped off his horse, making sure Judith didn't fall. The brown pony's feet staggered. Shit-

Negan cut its ties to his horse before watching it painfully fall to the ground. Even if Grimes had been a righteous prick, he didn't deserve this. His body fell off, making Negan wince. He scooped up the heavy corpse, tying him to the back of his horse. A pain filled winnie came from the pony.

"No!" Judith tried to stop Negan. But he held her back with one arm, she was only a kid after all. "Stop!" Another sob ripped through her voice. Negan blinked back tears and shut his eyes, shooting the animal dead. Her crying resumed. Negan couldn't deny the tears streaming down his cheeks. He never liked killing horses. Judith kicked at him while he scooped her up, placing her in front of him on his horse again. The snowstorm was heavy now.

But they kept going.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm going on vacation and I'll be without service for a week! But I promise Out Of Nowhere will get a new chapter eventually. 
> 
> follow my Tumblr - @author-404


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